Caring too much
by Taokan
Summary: Sayid gives Shannon a gift, one he knows she'll appreciate. Implied ShannonSayid Aimless drabble wherein Sayid and Shannon puzzle each other out.


Shannon was beautiful. She was well aware of this, and had no qualms about displaying that characteristic, nor of using it to her advantage.

She was also a spoiled brat. He knew this- he'd long ago accepted it as a part of her.

Shannon was also compassionate, and held no stereotypical views of anyone- probably because everyone always held one about her.

She was materialistic and had a habit of using people like handkerchiefs. He was well aware of it, and had long ago puzzled out the reasons as to why. Shannon had been trained, he believed, to be a latter-day fairy princess- beautiful, breakable, and firmly convinced that if she was in trouble, someone would always get her out of it. She relied on others for the simple reason that no one had ever taught her to help herself. Her brother Boone, he believed, may have even done her more harm than good; with Boone and his money always available to be her white knight, ready save her from the demons of the night and the day, Shannon had never been forced to conquer them herself.

She had been fully conscious of this it seemed. Shannon had been well aware that everyone thought she was useless, a bitch to put it bluntly. The blond knew this, and acted accordingly- if she pretended that she didn't care about anything but her magazines and her tan, never let herself be anything –even happy- save arrogant and selfish in public, the world would grow disgusted and eventually leave her alone.

Shannon was smart -smart enough to translate messages in a foreign tongue, gifted enough to sing adequately if not well- but hesitant to display or accept it, as if her talents were a shameful thing to have.

But she wasn't a princess. Fairy princesses did not get hurt, they didn't sob in the rain from a need to be believed and trusted, and fairy princesses did not die. Fairy princesses had happy endings, and Shannon's ending had been anything but happy.

Shannon was beautiful- and in the end that was her curse.

P)P)P)P)

"_We're almost there. " Gently pulling Shannon by the hand, Sayid pulled her into the jungle, smiling in amusement when irritation flickered across her pretty face . _

"_Where are we going?" Shannon asked huffily, cursing softly when she stubbed her toe on a root._

"_Somewhere close by… Ah, here we are. You can your eyes now Shannon."_

_Her eyes snapped open, a blistering insult dying stillborn on her lips as her eyes took in what was before her. "Oh…" she sighed, enraptured, the perpetually lofty expression softening. _A small field of flowers stretched before her in neat rows, delicate pastel petals swaying slightly in the breeze.

"_It's all for you," he told her. "It's a gift. I saw you helping Sun with the other garden and I thought you would appreciate something of your own to take care of. Think of it as a living bouquet."_

_A smile bloomed across her face, erasing the fine web of wrinkles on her forehead. Shannon made no grand gestures of gratitude, only whispered, "Thank you," and turned away to face the flowers, hiding her expression of joy._

_He didn't tell her how it come about- long hours conferring with Sun over seeds and dirt, water and fertilizer. Days spent weeding and warding off marauding insects. He didn't need to- she understood what he'd gone through for it. Shannon appreciated the gesture, and was happy. That was all the reward he needed._

P)P)P)P)

Sayid was careful. That was the first trait, aside from his intensity, that she'd noticed. Everything he did was carefully considered from a tactical standpoint- if it made sense to do something, if he thought others would benefit from it, no matter what it was, he'd do it.

That wasn't to say he wasn't reckless, or hadn't done inadvisable things: he had. Sawyer would attest to that. Sometimes he scared her, actually, but not because his actions were terrifying her, which they did on some level, but because they made sense.

Sayid was a nice guy- there was no other way to really put it. He would do things, sweet things, with no real need, much less desire, to be compensated in return. Things like making Sawyer a pair of glasses. Things like deal with her. He didn't have to, but he did, because he gave a damn about everyone else.

In fact, he cared too much; enough, in fact, for it to probably have come back and bite him in the ass at some point. If you wore your heart on your sleeve it easier for the fragile thing to be torn off and crushed. So he'd put up barriers, keeping everyone at a slight distance, appearing remote and cold when in fact he was simply cautious in regards to his heart. If something found its way in, it didn't get back out very easily. It was all very understandable- it was the logical thing to do.

He had a past he didn't discuss- but who didn't? Her past was probably, in some areas, as bad as his.

He had a gift for electronics, he could understand and maintain anything from radios to computers. Perhaps he'd been an electrician or something out in the real world. Perhaps, but probably not. Everyone had some sort of dark secret here on the island.

P)P)P)P)

For future reference, I severely dislike Shannon. She was very annoying, and I still puzzle over what Sayid saw in her. I was not torn up emotionally at her death scene- in fact, I was pretty glad the last of the irritating siblings was dead. (Boone, while attractive, was also irritating- probably because he was very whiny.)

When I decided to write about Lost, however, this was what came out.


End file.
